New Delhi: There have been many controversies on the cricket field. Sometimes there has been a lot of chaos among the players and sometimes because of the match officials, but in the history of cricket, there has been such a controversy on the field when the ICC had to apologize and the match officials were suspended. This was the most unique case in cricket, when match officials had to face suspension. Actually, this incident is from the final of ICC ODI World Cup 2007.
This is considered to be the most controversial and worst final in World Cup history. Australia and Sri Lanka faced each other in the final. This title match between the two teams was played at the Bridgetown Cricket Stadium in West Indies. Before the final between Australia and Sri Lanka could start, rain knocked down. It rained so heavily and for so long that the match was reduced to 38 overs each. However, somehow the toss took place and the Australian team came on the field to bat first.
Gilchrist played a stormy inning of 149 runs
In the final match against Sri Lanka, the pair of Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden destroyed the bowlers. There was a partnership of 172 runs between the two for the first wicket. During this, Gilchrist scored 149 runs in 104 balls, which included 13 fours and 8 sixes. Apart from this, Hayden contributed 38 runs while captain Ricky Ponting played a brilliant inning of 37 runs. In this way, Australia scored a huge score of 281 runs at the loss of 4 wickets in the stipulated 38 overs.
The Sri Lankan team, which came to chase the target of 282 runs given by Australia, did not have a good start. Upur Tharanga was out after scoring only 6 runs, but after this Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara took charge. The Sri Lankan team was also giving tough time to Australia, but then once again the rain created a disturbance. When the game stopped, Sri Lanka's score was 149 runs for 3 wickets in 24.5 overs. In such a situation, the target was revised to 269 runs in 36 overs.
Umpires made a blunder in the match
Amidst the hide and seek of rain, the Sri Lankan team needed 63 runs in the last three overs to win the match, but there was not enough light on the field to complete the remaining three overs. In such a situation, the Sri Lankan batsmen joined hands and Australia started celebrating, because they felt that they had won by the Duckworth-Lewis method, which was correct as per the rules, but then umpires Steve Buckner and Aleem Dar said that the match is not over and the remaining 3 overs should be played the next day. Both Ponting and Jayawardene disagreed with this decision of the umpire.
In the end, considering the umpire's decision as paramount, Jayawardene sent his batsmen back to finish the match on the same day. There were no floodlights in the stadium, so Australia bowled with spinners so that the batsmen did not get hurt. Sri Lanka played the last 3 overs in almost complete darkness and could reach 215 runs for 8 wickets in 36 overs. In this way, Australia won the match by 53 runs using Duckworth-Lewis method. After the match was over, the Australian team lifted the trophy and celebrated in almost darkness.
ICC apologizes for World Cup final
The ICC had to apologize for the bad chaos and not following the rules properly in the final of the ICC World Cup. This incident raised questions on the credibility of ICC. The controversy escalated to such an extent that all five match officials of the final, including the two on-field umpires, the third umpire, the fourth umpire and the match referee, were suspended from their next international tournament, the 2007 T20 World Cup.
